Russia’s ‘biggest-ever’ war games claims seen as message to West

Russia is holding war games this week in Sibera and the Far East, which the Kremlin claims will consist of about 300,000 troops, making it the largest military exercise on Russian soil. Analysts say the Vostok-2018 exercise is meant to project Russian military power in the Asia-Pacific region, though there is reason to believe the drills will not be as large as announced since the Kremlin has previously made false claims about the number of troops involved in its exercises. This week’s drills will also involve Chinese and Mongolian troops, which suggests Moscow is trying to convey to Beijing that the war games are not targeting China, but rather more the U.S. and Japan.